


Still like Lightning

by FFlove190



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Desert Prince AU, M/M, Slightly historical AU, royal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28296717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFlove190/pseuds/FFlove190
Summary: The small desert nation of Kujata received an interesting visitor from Gongaga. Sephiroth gives Zack a tour of the kingdom and it involves a bit of desert exploration, spelunking, piracy, and oyster farming. 10/10 would go again.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Sephiroth
Comments: 12
Kudos: 20
Collections: 2020 FF7 Secret Santa





	1. Kingdom of Kujata

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yenneffer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yenneffer/gifts).



> The prompt was basically desert prince au and I loved it so much that it got away from me and became… this. So, uh, hope you like it!

Sephiroth watched the incoming ship while awaiting his audience with the queen. The walls of the castle had an unimpeded view of the sands and the waves. From this distance it was difficult to tell whether or not the boat was fully docked or if its cargo was unloaded. There were so few trading vessels to their land that it was likely the merchant they’d been expecting instead of someone bringing new trade relations. How frustrating. 

Kujata was a small kingdom compared to its landmass. To the west was the sea and the east a sprawling desert. Sand dunes spill into the sea at the southernmost point and the gentle hill going north turns into jutting cliffs. So sits the capital city and the fortified castle the royals call home. While the rains came often and water was plenty, there was little arable land that the kingdom could be sustained with.

The queen beckoned him. Her silvered hair was done magnificently, twined in a loose ribbon that crossed one shoulder and fell to her side. Her every move was like a painting. Sephiroth had heard that the royal portraitist spent over a year on her inauguration portrait because he couldn’t capture her perfection. Someone had once called her the iceberg of the desert: her every move a calculation and every person a pawn. Sephiroth had never seen an iceberg, but he was certain they melted in heat. 

“Mother,” Sephiroth bowed to her. “I am here to discuss the state of the eastern border.” Sephiroth would have preferred to discuss trade and politics instead of war, but his mother gave him no quarter: even as crown prince he was but a mere commander in the military. 

“Oh? Our forces have been sent out to keep the situation from escalating, have they not?” Lucrecia, of course had been apprised of the situation by the general before they moved out. Irritating as it was, Sephiroth could only command them unofficially and present his reports - and opinions - long after they had been reported to his mother. 

How could he prove himself worthy of the crown if he was given no responsibility?

“That is correct,” Sephiroth organized the report in his head, knowing he would have limited time before their guests of honor arrived. Perhaps that was why Mother allowed this visit at all. “So far the damage has been minimal, but it has disrupted the harvest and clay gathering.” Ever since they’d moved to clay gathering, the harvest had shrunk along the river banks; they exported most of their bricks and imported more food. The river in the east continued to be the heart of the kingdom. But it was worse than that, “We have heard troubling rumors of pirates in our waters. Mother, I would propose that we form a naval militia to defend the coast.” 

“I see. Once your duties in the capital are complete, you will follow the general to the border.” Such was the dismissal. “The threat of pirates is small compared to our neighbors.” 

Sephiroth swallowed down his words. It was true he was a competent warrior and according to his mother, he wasn’t much else. The fact that he couldn’t understand his own failings made him feel like his hands were tied behind his back. As the crown prince, and only heir to the throne, Sephiroth needed to be worthy for his kingdom, and his people. But now he was simply a prince who knew the sword better than politics. 

How frustrating. 

“Yes, Mother.” Sephiroth bowed once more. When he rose, he stepped to the side of the chamber with the other lower advisors. 

“Have our guests arrived?” The queen gestured to an attendant at the door. They must have shared some silent communication while Sephiroth had given his report, because she soon said, “Very well. See them in.” 

There was only one person Lucrecia was ever excited to see. 

“Merchant Corneo has arrived,” announced the attendant and the doors opened. 

Merchant Corneo was dressed in a splendid red silk today. It was a commodity they weren’t able to afford yet, but Corneo had had indicated them they would be able to expand their port and generate enough income to procure it. While true their economy wasn’t bustling, despite having a port close to existing trade routes, Corneo promised it would be a slow improvement. 

Mother trusted him, so Sephiroth trusted him. His plans had helped diversify their food supply and keep their people fed. Sephiroth would be the first to admit that some of his contracts and money lending didn’t make sense to him; it was another failing of his political sense, surely, that he thought the contracts were unfair to Kujata. 

Today Corno was flanked by his usual retinue of retainers and a few unfamiliar faces. Sephiroth went about memorizing them. One in particular stood out from the rest: he bobbed in place and stared at the room in open-mouthed wonder. 

“Ah, Corneo, you grace us with your presence at last,” Lucrecia said with genuine warmth. Things had been close to famine before Corneo appeared - they had lost a season’s harvest during an invasion at the eastern border, and the fisheries couldn’t support the whole nation alone. 

Corneo was the hero of Kujata. They owed him more than a life debt and still he offered a helping hand to them. 

“I am honored to be here, Your Highness,” Corneo bowed. “There is much we need to discuss. But first, I bring you a gift of wine from the Empire of Midgar. I’m sure it will be to your liking, and I hope your people can enjoy it as well.”

His attendants presented several boxes, which were displayed gracefully. Sephiroth knew that a portion of this would be distributed to the nobles holding rank, the guardsman, and the servants in the castle. The rest would be retained for use in diplomatic talks. 

“Thank you, as always, for your kindness.” Lucrecia’s smile was magnanimous, and promised a long and fruitful discussion Sephiroth would not be a part of. 

“Ah. And before we begin our discussions,” Corneo gestured and one of the attendants stepped forward. “I would like to introduce a newcomer to your fine land.” 

The queen nodded. Sephiroth focused on the attendant who couldn’t sit still. Was this another merchant and therefore a new trade relation? He seemed young, so potentially Corneo’s successor? He had a strong gait, so he might be a warrior - perhaps the captain of the ship at the docks? 

As Sephiroth pondered the possibilities, Corneo revealed: “You Highness, I present to you the esteemed Prince of Gongaga: Isaac Fair.”

Said prince bowed with a flourish and a smile that was actually unnerving coming from a royal. His hair was in a style that Sephiroth had never seen before: jagged spikes that floated with every movement. And his eyes were a vibrant blue that looked nearly purple in the light. 

This was the first time in many years that nobility from outside their trading alliances had visited them. Sephiroth was genuinely worried his manners would embarrass Kujata and bring unfavorable relations to their countries. 

Gongaga… Sephiroth thought back to the maps. It was pronounced differently than he had expected but, yes, Gongaga. If he remembered correctly it was practically a city state, with a large swath of forest under its control. Situated on the river, Gongaga had a solid trade hub exporting both natural and processed goods; they were rumored to have some of the best glass blowers of this age (this glass, like silk, was far too expensive to even think of importing). 

Last Sephiroth had heard, there were three princes (and several princesses). One was the heir and the other two presumably had been sent off to political marriages. Clearly this prince wasn’t heir to the throne, or else he wouldn’t be across the ocean in this audience chamber. But that was all Sephiroth could extrapolate. Gongaga was far and rumors didn’t always survive the journey. 

Sephiroth looked at Prince Isaac, smiling as he was, and thought. This was a great opportunity. Surely Gongaga was far, but it was strong economically and had strong ties with major trade associations. A good word from this prince, distant as he was, could forge a relationship that would bring Kujata properly onto the world stage. 

When Sephiroth looked at Corneo he understood. This had been manipulated by Corneo himself. He knew what Sephiroth’s position was in the capital and how much he, the crown prince, struggled to prove to his mother that he was worthy of the title. This was Corneo presenting an opportunity on a silver platter. Sephiroth just had to make the most of it. 

Corneo was smiling as he said, “I know, my lady, that he doesn’t look quite so royal. Zack is an eccentric man who has taken it upon himself to explore the world.” 

“Zack?” The queen asked. Sephiroth blinked at the mismatched name: it was unlike Corneo to make such a mistake. Clearly his mother was just as puzzled. 

“If I may?” Isaac said with a bashful smile and duck of his head. “I prefer to be called Zack. Just Zack. Isaac is so stuffy!” His laughter echoed off the chamber walls and Sephiroth didn’t know what to make of it. No one, to his knowledge, had ever laughed in the audience chamber. 

Also who shortened names like this? Clearly Isaac’s - Zack’s parents hadn’t intended for him to do so. 

“Very well, Prince Zack,” Lucrecia bowed her head as much as was appropriate to visiting nobility. “Any friend of Merchant Corneo’s is a friend of ours. Please enjoy the splendors of Kujata. My son, Sephiroth, shall escort you during your stay.” 

Sephiroth stepped forward, bowing as his mother had to the foriegn prince. “It is my honor.” 

Oh how he would like to stay in these chambers for once and participate in the discussions they would have about the economy and the future of Kujata. But, Sephiroth knew opportunity when he saw it. 

“Oh wow!” Prince Zack blinked at him. Sephiroth wondered how he got his hair to behave the way it did: it was like a fluffy sea urchin. Zack opened his mouth once more and said, “Are you engaged?” 

Oh. He couldn’t say no, because it would invite a proposal - but to say yes would be a falsehood. Lucrecia had yet to find a candidate as a suitable match, someone who would benefit the country and balance Sephiroth’s weaknesses. 

“I hope this is not your proposal,” was all he could say.

“Oh! No I just. I, mean, I heard that you weren’t but for some reason I thought you were younger? You know since you’re so - it just startled me is all. It’s just weird, you know?” 

“Yes. I suppose it is.” Heirs were usually arranged to be married at a young age, it was by his own failings that he wasn’t yet. “Come, Prince Zack, I would like to take you on a tour of Kujata. There is much to see and do in our lands, I hope you are prepared. Let us adjourn.” 

“When you put it like that, I can’t refuse!” Zack laughed again. 

Sephiroth bowed to his mother and escorted the foriegn prince out. The tour of Kujata’s wonders would begin with the castle; he fully expected Zack to be wow’ed. 


	2. The Tour

The tour of the castle grounds did not go well. In fact, it had gone so poorly that just a few hours later, over dinner, Sephiroth was attempting to explain why the castle was so spectacular. 

“Ours is the most fortified castle in the region. There is only one way in or out; invaders from land or sea would have to take the same winding road to the gates just as you did.” Sephiroth said very carefully. 

“Except everything is so climbable!” Zack laughed and bounced where he sat. That he was sitting at all was nothing short of a miracle, honestly. “There’s only one way in and out, sure, but look! It’s so dry here. There’s no slippery stuff on anything I could climb anywhere. It’s great!”

“You have mentioned this before.” Sephiroth had no idea that it had been a prequel to disaster. Sephiroth lost years of his life when Zack had actually begun climbing the castle’s walls. Corneo had promised an eccentric prince. Sephiroth hadn’t been prepared. 

“Mm!” Zack stopped drinking his water and leaned forward over the table. “Have you ever climbed the cliffs?”

“Pardon?” Sephiroth had hoped the conversation would switch to trade relations now that food had been added to the equation. The wine Corneo brought was open on the table but neither had drunk from it. Sephiroth wasn’t fond of the way alcohol clouded his senses, but he thought his guest might appreciate it. 

“The cliffs! You said there’s only one way in or out - aside from climbing the walls - but there’s so many cliffs! All the way up from the ocean to this castle! I bet there’s a million caves and - and maybe even a secret entrance to the castle!” Zack used his hands to paint the picture. He was, Sephiroth had to admit, very charismatic. If only he used that charisma for something other than finding ways to break his neck...

“The cliffs are not traversable.” Sephiroth said immediately. This wasn’t true, everyone in Kujata climbed the cliffs at one point or another; never very far and never particularly successfully, but there were portions of the cliffs that made good scavenging, especially after a large storm. 

“Well, not easily, but doable!” Zack puffed his chest out. “It’ll be harder than climbing the castle walls since it’s probably slippery, but I bet we could do it!” 

Sephiroth ignored the request and decided to change the subject. They needed a nice, safe topic that would distract prince Zack from his climbing urges. 

“Are the oysters to your liking?” Sephiroth gestured. Zack had hardly touched his food, too busy talking to properly eat. Gongaga was hot and humid, yes, so Zack was likely acclimated to the food and water needed to survive in this kind of heat. But Sephiroth wanted to make sure. “They were farmed in our waters.”

“Oh!” Zack leaned back and shucked an oyster with a precision that belied familiarity. He swallowed the meat and exclaimed: “Ah! Snot of the ocean! My favorite!” 

“... snot?” Had Sephiroth heard correctly? 

“Yeah. It’s like the ocean but in a gooey and disgusting package. It’s great, isn’t it? I heard that from a sailor. Not my cousin, but another sailor.” Zack looked at the oysters and back to Sephiroth. “Oh! You should export these!” 

"Pardon?" Sephiroth should have brought a diptych to keep track of Zack’s thoughts because he was honestly confused. Zack, meanwhile, shucked another oyster.

"Exporting oysters! They're delicious and everyone always wants some." Zack demonstrated by tilting the shell and swallowing the meat whole. 

“... no. We do not export oysters.” Sephiroth said carefully. “They don’t handle transport well.”

“But everyone wants an oyster. They’re so fun to eat and whenever I’m travelling too far from the coast you know what I think?” Zack paused, as if waiting for an answer. Sephiroth didn’t know the answer; he was afraid he might never know the answer. “I think: man I wish I could be on the ocean and an oyster would be delicious right now!”

“We don’t have any trade that can handle the transport of oysters before they spoil.” Sephiroth said instead. “Especially not across the desert.”

“Aww, but you have so much demand! You just need to give them the supply.” Zack clacked some oyster shells together. “That’s the basics of being a merchant! Find the demand and bring the supply!” 

“.. a merchant?” Sephiroth had been under the impression he was talking to a prince. Perhaps Gongaga appointed their merchants? No, he was thinking about this incorrectly: Gongaga was a trading hub, wasn’t it? It was only natural that their royals would be trained in mercantile. 

“Yeah. I still have a lot to learn but I have the basics down. Mostly.” Zack shrugged. 

“I see.” Sephiroth wasn’t sure what to make of this statement. Zack was just being humble, wasn’t he?

"So, I just gotta say." Zack put his chin in his hands and elbows on the table. "You're really pale for someone who lives in the desert. It's not like you don't go outside or anything either …" 

Well. How should he respond to that? It was one of his traits that foreigners loved to point out: how queer that the royals were pale, did they really rule the desert? Worse, they used it as a segue to flirt. A compliment should be repaid in kind but it was difficult to talk suitors down after that. 

Why had they served oysters for dinner? Foreigners always thought they were an aphrodisiac!

While Sephiroth struggled to form a plan of action, Zack continued, "and your hair is really pretty, like the sea at sunrise. Honestly you look like you were made of sand and the sea - just like Kujata!"

A vague comment about Zack’s hair never made it past Sephiroth’s lips. It was all he could do to sit and stare at Zack. When he breathed it was like warmth was seeping from his stomach to his whole body. Sephiroth had never been compared to his homeland before, never like that. 

“I… thank you.”

“No need to thank me! I just tell it like I see it. And I see a lot. Like how your fingernails are like pebbles and your eyes are like fish.”

That was still a compliment. Probably. The warmth in his stomach evaporated; Sephiroth breathed a sigh of relief. One less distraction to worry about. 

“Your hair reminds me of a sea urchin.” Given Zack’s other compliments, this probably was one too? 

Zack beamed. “Thank you! Most people usually call it a porcupine, but this is the first time I’ve been called a sea urchin. That’s great.”

Zack ate another oyster and Sephiroth found room in his stomach to eat. The tension and the warmth had finally made space for the food. 

“So, what’s on the docket for tomorrow?” Zack asked. “We toured the castle today, so are we going to tour the town? Oh! Or see the cliffs!” 

The standard tour started with the castle, and then an exploration of the capital tailored to the guest’s preferences. If the foreigner was staying long, Sephiroth would take them out to a nearby oasis by camel so they could appreciate the vastness of the desert. 

Considering that Zack had nearly died while touring the castle, everything else on that list was beyond dangerous. Sephiroth had been wracking his brains for a solution: an activity that would stimulate Zack’s interest in Kujata and keep him safe. 

“Given your interest in oysters, I thought you might enjoy visiting the oyster farm.” Sephiroth hadn’t made any arrangements but he felt this was the safest option. 

“What? Heck yeah I will!” Zack bounced in his seat. “I’ve never been to an oyster farm! This sounds amazing.” 

Sephiroth felt his lips tug into a smile. Had anyone ever been this excited to go to any farm - let alone an oyster farm? There was a certain childish purity in his excitement. 

“Morning will come early for us. Get some sleep after your long journey.” And long climb. 

“Oh yeah! I will! I can’t wait!” 

So dinner came to a close with much less drama than expected. 

[...]

The oyster farm looked unimpressive. That was largely due to the shoals being largely invisible save for the parts that breached the ocean. Sephiroth was aware of just how much funding went into building and maintaining the structure, but he hadn’t toured the location himself. 

The farmer guiding them around was so stiff that his gait was uneven. Zack didn’t appear to notice. “Your Highness, we’ve farmed these waters for generations and promise you that these are the best oysters on the coast.” 

Sephiroth gestured for the farmer to continue, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted. 

“So how do you actually farm oysters? I get that they’re down there but do you like just grab an oyster from a bucket tand toss it in there?” Zack was looking at the water quizzically, crouching like it would explain its secrets. 

“No. Not really. We just built the bilges around the existing oyster population and harvest them when they’re ready.” The farmer shrugged. Sephiroth knew as much from the reports he read requesting water rights to expand the farm. 

“Wait? Bilge? Is that the thing I see in the water over there?” Zack pointed, “It’s making the water super calm in here, right?” 

“That’s right, you have a good eye,” The farmer laughed at that. Sephiroth had been under the impression that this man was too nervous to function with royalty, but a few comments from Zack had loosened him up completely. “It’s the only way to farm oysters.”

“You’re just doing what the Romans did, right?” Zack laughed. 

“Bah. We’re doing it better.” 

“Hey, what are they doing over there? Can I try that?” Zack pointed at a boat dragging a net across the water. 

“You should leave that to the professionals,” Sephiroth wanted to reduce the likelihood of Zack getting into a dangerous situation. This was going to be a nice and simple tour. 

“Ahaha, okay. I won’t get in your way. But I have other questions!” Zack didn’t even blink as he continued talking to the fisherman. And then other fishers as they wandered around to observe their work on the dock. 

Sephiroth had never considered himself ignorant, but he was learning a great deal about a critical food industry with just a few of Zack’s questions. The best time of the day to harvest oysters, how to tell when they were going to breed, how to expand the breeding grounds to have oysters year round… 

“You’re very enthusiastic about oyster farming,” Sephiroth observed as they had lunch. Freshly caught oysters, of course. 

“Aren’t you? I’ve never caught my own oyster before!” Zack laughed as he separated the meat from the shell. “Do you think I’d make a good oyster farmer?”

No. Sephiroth imagined Zack falling from a boat and getting stuck in the nets. Fishing had its own dangers - from bladed implements to the great ocean - and Sephiroth wanted to deter this prince, his only contact with Gongaga, from doing anything rash. 

“Perhaps.” Sephiroth said instead. Part of him  _ did  _ think Zack might make a good oyster farmer. He was clearly eager to learn and try new things. These were a trait Sephiroth had never seen in royalty, there was something about pride and being unwilling to bend. But being able to shift with the desert sands was the only way to keep nations strong in an ever changing world.

Zack made for a decent prince, as far as Sephiroth could tell. Aside from, of course, his need to climb castle walls. 

What was needed were safe and suitable tour pastimes. 

“After lunch, I would like to show you the royal beach,” Sephiroth was pleased at having come up with the schedule. After the beach they would ride the camels back to the palace and lounge in the heat of the day by the fountain. Nice and safe plans. 

“Oh? The beach! Sounds great.” Zack smiled. “Visiting the beach is the best thing to do after eating oysters!”

[...]

The beach was perfectly safe. There was nothing to climb here. There were no rocks for Zack to stumble over and nothing particularly dangerous to fall on. There were simply pebbles and sand. Sephiroth had eletected to take his charge to the northern beach as it was quieter. The cliffs jutted to the north but Sephiroth was relatively sure he could keep Zack from thinking about them. 

“Wow! I have to hand it to you. This place is beautiful.” Zack put his hands on his hips and gazed at the desert before about facing to look at the ocean. 

“Kujata is a land of natural wonders.” There was a severity to her that hardened her people: any storm that came they could weather. The sun glistened across the sea as fishing boats bobbed in the distance. “My ancestors were drawn by the endless ocean when they settled this land. They had originally been desert nomads.”

“That’s intense.” Zack scratched his head. “I’ve never met a desert nomad. How, hm, how hard is it to live in the desert?” 

“If the fates favor you and you are well prepared, no harder than anywhere else, I suppose.” Sephiroth was torn: Zack seemed genuinely interested but taking him to the desert sounded like a good way to lose a foriegn prince.

“Hmm. That doesn’t sound  _ too _ bad.” Zack tilted his head back and forth in thought. 

Sephiroth gestured to the ocean to distract Zack. “We have a large fishing industry. Perhaps you would like to see the fish markets?” 

The problem with all of these safe and carefully planned tour events was that they all happened in the morning. Sephiroth was out of ideas for the evenings - maybe Zack would be up for a few hours of chess? 

“Huh. Neat.” Zack nodded to himself without actually providing an answer. Zack proceeded to squat down and pick at the sand organizing pebbles into stacks.

Sephiroth didn’t know what to make of this. He couldn’t tell if Zack was that easily distracted or simply thinking. Sephiroth squatted down as well and tried to gauge Zack’s expression. 

Zack caught his eye and smiled. “What kind of rocks are these?” while he asked, he held out a hand. What was going on? Was Zack genuinely interested in these rocks, distracted by them, or changing the subject because the fish market didn’t sound appealing? 

Sephiroth examined the pebbles; they didn’t look particularly amazing. Were they special? Sephiroth wasn’t sure, so he said, “Simple beach detritus.”

“Really?” Zack took a pebble between his thumb and forefinger and held it up to the sky, gazing at it intently. There was an intensity in his eyes that drew Sephiroth. Flickers of light caught on Zack’s face and Sephiroth felt like he was mesmerized. “You’re sure?”

“It doesn’t appear to have any unique properties, nor have I heard of any.” Had anyone picked through the beaches and studied the stones? No, there hadn’t been. Sephiroth made it a point to know the goings ons of his country. 

“It looks like glass to me.” With that announcement, Zack brought the pebble back down and looked at it. 

Glass? Sephiroth leaned forward. It didn’t  _ look _ like glass. But Zack was from Gongaga, therefore he was the current expert on all things glassware in Kujata. 

“Does it?” Sephiroth couldn’t compare it to the glassware he’d seen. It was pink and misshapen. Though it caught the light it didn’t look like much of anything: just a misshapen rock.

“Yeah. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Zack spun the pebble in his fingers. “This has such a soft color to it and it’s so smooth. You know every region - heck, every glass maker - has their own recipe, so every piece comes out differently. But this - I’ve never seen glass like this! The color is based on whatever you put into the glass, right? But how did they get this color? How did the ocean make this? It’s just crazy to think about!” 

As Zack continued to examine the pebble, Sephiroth looked at his face. 

“Is everyone from Gongaga as knowledgeable about glass?” Sephiroth found himself asking. He hadn’t meant to speak without thinking. 

“Oh? Well, maybe.” Zack scratched at the back of his head. Sand flicked from his fingers at the gesture. “I might be a little more knowledgeable, but maybe not? I did try my hand at being a glassblower.”

“Really?” Sephiroth tried to compare that to the other puzzle pieces he knew about Zack. “In the same way you tried your hand at being a merchant?”

“Haha, I mean, yeah I guess.” Zack shrugged and fiddled with the glass some more. “It’s good to know a little bit of everything, right? I consider myself a sort of jack of all trades.”

“You’re very well rounded for a prince.” Sephiroth observed. Zack was trained in two of the most important trades to his country, on top of his royal training. Sephiroth, meanwhile, only knew how to be a soldier and barely knew how to be a prince. 

Zack stared at Sephiroth. There was something in his gaze that was different. A wetness? Had some sand gotten in Zack’s eye? 

“Well, I try.” Zack laughed and he blinked rapidly before looking away from Sephiroth and back to the smooth glass in his hands. “A-anyway, do you know how this is made?”

“It washes up on the beach, much like the rest of the sand. Other than that, I have no information for you.”

“Hmm.” Zack looked at the pebbles again and then out at the ocean. Sephiroth should have followed his gaze, but he was too busy observing this foriegn prince. The glas was refracting light and it sparkled on Zack’s chin and then his forehead. “That’s so weird. I wonder why? And - obviously it’s getting made somehow, so I wonder how.”

“Perhaps it’s the ocean’s gift?” Sephiroth couldn’t sate Zack’s curiosity. There was no knowledge he could think of that might; they didn’t even have a glassblower in their kingdom. Sephiroth would have to summon someone to see if they could answer Zack’s questions better than he could. 

“HMMM. Like oysters.” Zack nodded to himself, “Ahh. Guess we’re going to have to live with the mystery for a while, huh?” 

“Yes, it appears so.” Sephiroth was frustrated that he had no more to offer. Not only had he misread Zack’s intentions but he couldn’t even answer his questions!

“Can I take these?” Zack presented his hand again, full of pink pebbles that sparkled in the light. 

“As you please,” finally something Sephiroth could do. “The ocean’s gift to Kujata, is now our gift to you.” 

“Ahaha. That sounds so important when you put it like that.” Zack’s smile made Sephiroth’s lips twitch into one. “Thanks.”

They stood as one, Zack pocketing the glass and looking out to the ocean. 

“Alright. Let’s go climbing now!” Zack said as he grabbed Sephiroth’s hand. Pulled along, Sephiroth struggled to find a way to turn down a foriegn dignitary without impeding their future relations. 

“What about the fish market?” Sephiroth tried desperately. 

“We can do that tomorrow! It’ll still be there. But the cliffs will be drier! Let’s go!” Zack picked up speed as they raced across the shore. 

When Sephiroth looked behind him, the attendants and the guards were frozen in shock. 

“Fine,” Sephiroth said and the words tasted like sand. “But only for a little while. We don’t have enough water to do much more.” 

“Yeah!” Zack’s gait turned into a skip and Sephiroth jogged lightly beside him. Perhaps they didn’t need to hold hands but Sephiroth couldn’t find a reason to stop either. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never eaten an oyster, but I've been assured that Zack's description is apt.


	3. Exploring the Cliffs

“I can’t believe you said these cliffs couldn’t be climbed. They were just made to be!” Zack laughed with his arms akimbo. The sea breeze was pleasant at this height, though it tasted like a coming storm. 

“Cliffs like these were made by nature with no consideration for mankind's desires.” Sephiroth squinted at the horizon. The sun was hanging lower than he would have liked. They had been out here far longer than he had intended. He handed a waterskin to Zack. “Here, drink.” 

“Oh, thanks.” Zack drank it down eagerly. 

Sephiroth turned away from the horizon and back to the cliffs. Would they be able to make it back before sunset? The route had been erratic at best, with several backtracks whenever Zack found impassable terrain. Instead of going back to the beach, as Sephiroth had suggested, Zack had asked him to keep going a little further. Now here they were. All the little grains of sand really added up. 

Sephiroth drank from his own water skin. The headache growing between his eyes was probably from dehydration and not the growing possibility that prince Zack would be sleeping in a cave tonight. They had climbed through the heat of the day after all. 

“Oh! Hey! There’s a cave!” Zack pointed, as if reading Sephiroth’s thoughts. “Let’s explore.” 

Sephiroth looked at it, and then the waves crashing below them. It was true he’d never been this far into the cliffs before and he had seen no maps of them either. The best they could hope for was a cave with good airflow that wouldn’t be affected by the tides. 

“Yes, let’s.” Sephiroth followed Zack into the caves. It was frustrating how unprepared he had been for Zack’s whims for the cliffs - especially when he had factored them into all of his other plans. There were no rations and not nearly enough water for a situation like this. 

It took Sephiroth’s eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness. Coolness seeped into his sweat-soaked garments like a refreshing breeze; already he felt more alert. 

“Wow! This is beautiful.” Zack was running his hands against a wall. “It’s so smooth!” 

There were intermittent nooks and crannies in the cliff face, allowing light into the cave. The walls sparkled in the fading light like sea shells. For all the cliff looked jagged and impassible on the outside, in here it was serene. Sephiroth closed his eyes and savored the quiet whistle of the wind and the distant crash of waves. 

“So, I had a question,” Zack was looking at him when Sephiroth came back to awareness. What was he doing getting so distracted? There was a cave to survey. 

“Yes?” Sephiroth knew he had to explore the cave and determine if they had to keep moving, but he couldn’t look away from Zack. Light was glistening on his sweat soaked skin and bits of hair stuck to his forehead; his usual smile was replaced by something a bit more contemplative, like the one he wore at the beach staring at the glass.

What sort of questions would he ask? Would Sephiroth have the answer? Would his eyes be opened to a new unknown in his own homeland? What sort of curiosities awaited?

“... how  _ did _ you become known as the Demon of the Desert?” 

_ Oh _ . That wasn’t what Sephiroth anticipated at all. It was true that he had won every tournament he participated in since he came of age, but he wasn’t worthy of a title like Demon. That was a moniker his enemies had given him: he’d earned it in defense of his kingdom. But it didn’t feel right to wear it along with his crown.

“I mean,” Zack continued quickly, as if he’d seen the apprehension on Sephiroth’s face. “People really like to talk about you, but you know how rumors go. They’re super embellished. Like! I heard that you single handedly pushed back an army.”

“I had surprise and luck on my side.” Sephiroth’s lungs ached when he thought of that battle. It was easier to look at the cave instead of Zack now, as the memories of the sandstorm at his back and the invaders at the fore clouded his mind’s eye. The cave was less than ideal. If there were no other options, they could hunker down on the south side to avoid the worst of the wind but if a storm was coming they would be drenched no matter where they slept. 

“Wait - that wasn’t just a rumor? Are you - you’re like a genius!” Zack’s eyes were wide and Sephiroth carefully looked away from them. “Does that mean what everyone said was true? All true?” 

How far had rumors spread? Had Zack only heard because of Corneo and his crew? Or was his fame being seeded along the trade routes? Were people simply afraid to visit Kujata because of his notoriety? Did that mean that not only was he a failure of a prince, but he was actively disrupting their trade economy? 

“Well, that makes sense,” Zack nodded to himself. Sephiroth was torn between wanting to know what people said about him and letting Zack draw his own conclusions. “That explains how you can keep up with me. Most people usually just give up and let me wander around with guards.”

“That certainly would be easier on my heart.” Sephiroth had considered doing the very same thing as he lay in bed last night (he had also wondered if Zack’s hair would be soft to the touch), and came to the conclusion: “But I wouldn’t be able to rest easy without keeping an eye on you myself. I’ve never met someone who climbed my castle’s walls and I worried you would get yourself into trouble. Kujata doesn’t forgive mistakes.”

“O-oh, thanks for worrying about me.” Zack looked up at the ceiling with a complicated expression. Was he, perhaps, flustered? How unusual. Wasn’t it normal to be worried about the safety of a foriegn prince in your kingdom? Zack clapped his hands and the thoughts were dispelled with his smile. “So! Do you want to keep exploring or should we head back?” 

“We should keep exploring,” Sephiroth gestured with his chin to the winding path along the cave. “Even if we left now, we’d never reach the beach before nightfall. We need to find a suitable place to make camp.”

“Camping? I love camping!” Zack bounced in place. 

“That’s a relief.” Sephiroth strode ahead as Zack fell in pace behind him. Why was it reassuring, exactly? The longer Sephiroth spent with Zack, the more alive he seemed in the outdoors. Back in the audience chamber he had seemed fidgety and informal, but here among the cliffs and the fisherman, he blended into the landscape as if he’d always belonged. 

The cave, worryingly, continued downward. Light was intermittent and the wind hummed a song in the cliffside holes. Sephiroth was about to suggest they turn back when they came across the view. 

“Oh wow! It’s the ocean!” Zack exclaimed as he pointed.

The cave had opened up straight to the water. Like the frame on a painting, the walls of the cave both jagged and smooth, surrounded the sight. The sun was low enough that it touched the water while painting the clouds the color of the desert. 

Sephiroth felt his breath hitch at the sight. Logically, it was a view he’d seen many times: the sun sinking into the sea with a halo of clouds. But it was different here. There was a hint of wonder to it. Sephiroth felt like was being swallowed by the brightness and that he would disappear when night came. 

“This is pretty spectacular,” Zack’s voice was hushed. An elbow knocked against Sephiroth’s. 

“Yes. It is.” Sephiroth couldn’t look away from it. Zack was warm at his side and the sunset a fading warmth on his face. He’d considered him an expert on the wonders of Kujata before Zack arrived. How much of his homeland had Sephiroth not yet discovered? 

They stayed like that, watching the sun fade into the water, side by side. 

“Oh, hey,” Zack said suddenly. “What’s that?” 

Zack stepped forward and squatted down to pick something off the ground. He held it between his thumb and forefinger and squinted at it, just the same way he had the beach glass. “Huh. It’s a pearl. Did an oyster spit this out?” Zack turned his head, as if looking for said oyster, and froze. “Uh… I didn’t know you guys had a port down here…”

“A port?” There was no such thing as a port in the cliffs. Sephiroth took a step forward and wished he hadn’t. 

There, none too far from them, was a three masted ship. It was moored and a gangway bustling with activity as people moved from ship to rock face. It was low tide now but the ship bobbed freely. Though the sails were raised, what drew Sephiroth’s eye was a single black flag waving in the wind. 

“ _ Pirates?!” _ Sephiroth felt adrenaline spiking in his chest. It couldn’t be true - there had merely been sightings of them in Kujata’s waters, but apparently they were finding port here? Sephiroth’s eyes roved over the pirates: ragged clothes, bare cutlasses. They didn’t walk with the clean and trim forminations Sephiroth was used to from the military, but the purpose in their stride was nonetheless unnerving. 

“Oh. Wow. Those… yeah those are definitely pirates,” Zack said from his crouched position. 

Sephiroth ducked behind the rock. It was difficult to breathe. They hadn’t been spotted, no. The chamber must have been made in such a way that their voices hadn’t carried thank goodness. But they were so close: all it would take was one wandering eye and they would be finished. 

They were unarmed, nothing more than a knife between them. Did Prince Zack have combat training? Could they get away if they were attacked? Could they get away without getting spotted? 

Sephiroth lifted himself back up to look at the boat again. And there, emblazoned on the side, was the name Sephiroth had expected. Of course. 

“It’s the Katana.” Sephiroth lowered himself back down. 

“The Katana?” Zack asked in confusion. “Like the sword?” 

“Yes.” Sephiroth rubbed at his forehead. It felt like the caves were closing in on him. “It’s Captain Balto’s ship. He’s never lost a duel.” 

Could Sephiroth handle Balto? What about his men? Could he protect Zack at the same time? Sephiroth couldn’t answer yes to any of these questions.

“Balto?” Zack was confused by the name, like he hadn’t heard the rumors. For a man who travelled by boat Zack certainly prioritized gathering the wrong information. “I have a cousin named Balto… what a coincidence.”

Horror clawed at Sephiroth’s gut. 

They couldn’t come back the way they came in. They would be risking their fate to the darkness and the coming storm. There was no escape route except for the branching tunnels nearby and who knew where they went. Judging by the pearl Zack found, the pirates had already been up here (where else could it have come from but a thief’s pocket?). 

What was the best option here? 

Sephiroth needed more information. 

“Oy! Captain!” A voice shouted. It sounded like it had come from behind and Sephiroth looked for the offender: no one was there. “We’re all ready for tonight!” 

Zack furrowed his brow and raised himself to look over the boulder. After scanning their flank one more time, Sephiroth did the same. 

“Alright. Let’s go over the plan one more time.” A new voice said, calm, sure and commanding all at once. It was just as close. Sephiroth swallowed against the sand in his throat. Plan? What on earth were pirates planning to do in Kujata? 

Zack pointed with his chin. “I think it’s those two.” 

Sephiroth followed his gaze down to a table right below them. It was covered with maps and parchments. A man in a large hat had his back to them.

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Said the first voice. The person in question gave a sloppy salute and a toothless smile. “We’ll head up that passageway and wait for the signal. And once we get the signal we’ll storm the castle. They won’t know what hit ‘em!” 

“Right.” A nod from Captain Balto, terror of the seas, master swordsman known to never lose a duel. “Try not to lose control. We’re going to be here for a long while. And after tonight our lives will be easy.” 

Sephiroth did not like the sound of this at all. The pirates were going to storm the castle? They already had someone planted to send a signal? No, they couldn’t possibly get to the castle from here. Could they? 

“Hey,” Zack whispered, “do you think they’re talking about that passageway?” Zack pointed to a cave entrance where pirates went in and out like ants. 

Sephiroth took a breath and thought. What could he do in this situation? His kingdom was under threat, but he was unarmed against an army (untrained but no less an army) and had a diplomat to protect. They had to get away before they were spotted. 

“And, you know, don’t you think that captain sounds familiar?” Zack lost interest in the passage and leaned on the rock to get a better view of the pair (they were talking about how to divvy up earnings and Sephiroth didn’t want to listen). “He sounds like someone I know but I can’t put my finger on it…” 

Sephiroth was going to respond, but then he saw what was happening. The rock they’d been hiding behind was tipping over the edge. Zack pinwheeled and Sephiroth snatched his collar to drag him back. 

There was no chance of a quiet escape. But maybe - maybe the rock would take out the captain, the greatest threat.

Zack didn’t have the same reservations because he shouted: “Look out!!”

Sephiroth had met wild camels better behaved than this prince! What was he doing? 

The rock slammed into the ground. The cave rattled upon impact but Sephiroth remained standing. 

Two pairs of eyes, attached to very uninjured bodies, looked up at them. The captain adjusted his glasses and his subordinate threw out a hand.

“We got a couple of rats! Get ‘em!” 

There was a ragged echo as the pirates shouted in turn. This was not good. 

Sephiroth pushed Zack towards a tunnel at random, the one he didn’t hear an echo of voices down. “Go, escape.”

“What? Wait - wait?!” Zack latched onto Sephiroth’s arm. “Are you going to fight? You can’t do that!” 

“I’ll distract them. You need to survive.” Even if the pirates didn’t get him, would Zack be able to make it to safety? The pinks of dusk were ominously red and light was fading fast. Sephiroth shook off Zack. “One of us needs to bring word back to the castle.” 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Zack re-attached himself. “There’s no way you can win here. And, also, aren’t you the crown prince? Don’t you need to survive this, too? We need to get out of here and make an actual plan!”

Sephiroth didn’t have a retort for that. Zack was absolutely correct. Something was going to happen at the castle - which meant his mother’s life was under threat. As the crown prince, his first priority should be surviving.

“Yeah.” Zack must have sensed his resolve crumbling because he continued, “You can’t get hurt here. If we - if we retreat and think of a plan you can stop them. Right? You’re some kind of genius, aren't you? Let’s fall back and put that big brain to use!” 

Footsteps were thundering in their ears. Zack was tugging at Sephiroth’s arm. 

“Alright.” Sephiroth turned with Zack. “Let’s move.” 

“Great!” Zack pulled Sephiroth into one of the caves and broke into a run. They stumbled in the shadows of the fading dusk.

Sephiroth kept up with him even as shouts clamoured behind them. His mind was trying to form tactics that they could use but the only thing in his head was sand. At every crossroads Zack would pause, listen intently, and then pick another direction without any input from Sephiroth. Slowly but surely, the sounds of pursuit faded, and the ceiling of the cave fell away.

Sephiroth blinked at the curtain of stars. In front of them was the rolling dunes of the desert touched silver by the moonlight. 

“Oh we’re… in the desert?” Zack shot a confused glance back at the cave.

They were. Sephiroth looked at the constellations to get his bearings, and turned southward. The castle was a silhouette against the stars. If they set out now, they might arrive before sunrise. 

“Come,” Sephiroth trudged forward. “We have to rally the troops.”

“Wait.” Zack lost his footing in the sand as he followed. “We’re going to the castle? Didn’t the pirates say they were going to the castle? It seems like a bad idea for us to go there right now. Just saying.”

“That’s precisely why we’re going.” Sephiroth’s eyes focused only on the distant shape of the castle. His head felt heavy and weightless, as if he was underwater. Every thought, every strategy he could think of was disjointed, impractical, useless against this threat. He would think of something by the time they arrived at the castle. 

“But, I thought - weren’t we going to make a plan? Run to the castle isn’t much of a plan!” Zack’s voice was getting louder with every step. It echoed across the sands heedless of anyone who might be listening for them. 

Sephiroth stopped. The air pressure had changed and with the change came a revelation. 

“ _ Why _ exactly are you so against me going back to the castle?” Sephiroth turned to face Zack. Zack merely blinked back at him, confused. 

“Because, well, the pirates are going to attack tonight, right? We need a plan to deal with that many people, so what’s your plan?” Zack said this with all sorts of hand gestures. There was something in his expression that was off, a hardness at the edge of his eyes and tension in his shoulders. 

“You’re rather tense, aren’t you?” Sephiroth observed. “It’s almost like you’re trying to keep me from returning.” 

Thick clouds rolled in from the coast, inky black fingers eating away at the stars bit by bit. 

“Uh. Yes?” Zack looked around and then gestured between them. “Before we go anywhere I’d like a plan is all. It sort of seems like your plan is: ‘find army.’ I think we need to re-consider it. We have a crazy opportunity, finding the pirates and knowing their plan. We just have to make a counter-attack.” 

“A crazy opportunity,” Sephiroth repeated, looking at Zack again. Right this moment, he looked like a warrior. Sephiroth felt anger bubbling in his throat and clenched his fists. “It’s rather a crazy opportunity that pirates showed up the day after your arrival.”

“What are you saying?” Zack scrunched his face.

“Perhaps it’s just coincidence, then, that you left your retinue behind and dragged me from the castle, hm?” It felt like iron spikes were in Sephiroth’s stomach molten with the sting of betrayal. “A prince who just so happens to be from a country Kujata would do anything to form diplomatic ties with, a weakness that’s easily exploited. And that same prince would save the lives of pirates who were set to raid the capital. And that same prince stopped Kujata’s strongest warrior from a fight he might have won to save his people. How... coincidental.” 

The more he spoke, the more  _ real _ it felt. Sephiroth embraced the rumble in his spine, the heat of the rage like the sun at its apex with nowhere but desert to turn burning and burning and burning in his stomach.

“Are you - what do you - I’m not involved in this!” Zack’s mouth formed words before ultimately failing him. “I came to Kujata because I heard it was awe-inspiring, and beautiful, and the people - well, I have my reasons! And I thought we were getting along. I - if you didn’t trust me why did you get so close to me? What, were you pretending to be my friend so you could turn around and say I betrayed you? If anything I should be mad at you for making my heart…” Zack shook his head. 

Sephiroth threw his head back and laughed. “What a contrived explanation. You came into my home and we welcomed you with trust, and this is how you repay us? You, a traitor who can’t even lie properly?”

Zack huffed. Rain fell between them. Zack looked up as if started, as if he hadn’t noticed the darkness covering the sky and the oncoming storm. 

“It’s just a desert storm,” Sephiroth shrugged. “Are you really that shocked?” 

“You -” Zack shook a finger in his direction. It was uncouth and rude and it only made Sephiroth laugh at how blundering it was. “You’re so - why do you have to be this way? You’re so strict with yourself, but the minute anything goes wrong you blame it on the first person you can find!”

“And what do you know about me? Hm?” Sephiroth threw his arms wide, letting the rains drench him. Every drop was sharp as hail. “We’ve known each other for what, a day?”

“I know a lot about you!” Zack shouted back in the rising winds. “You wear it all on your face!” 

“Really,” Sephiroth shook his head, “Well, Isaac - or whatever your name is - you are going to die in this desert. The rains will drown you,” water drenched them, “until your bones are washed into the sands and turn to dust,” the winds whipped at them, “and you will be forgotten! Share the fate of every invader!” 

A flash erupted in the corner of Sephiroth’s vision. A jagged spectrum of lightning blinding the desert with its brilliance. Zack was staring at him: mouth twisted like he wanted to say something, eyes wet with rain, and shoulders shaking. 

Lightning? They were in the desert, no structures around to keep them safe. Nowhere was safe. They’d long passed the rocky cliffs and there were rolling dunes as far as the eye could see. Was there anywhere nearby to take shelter? Without the guiding stars, Sephiroth didn’t know. 

This might very well be the end. Zack had brought him here to die, hadn’t he? 


	4. Surviving the Storm

Zack turned towards where the lightning struck. Sephiroth watched him in the flashes that rumbled in the clouds. There was nothing to do now but wait for the end. Sephiroth swallowed against the rising emotions in his chest. Kujata: his mother, her people… all of them would be lost because he failed as a prince once more. He’d trusted the wrong person.

Zack moved, bolting across the sand. Not towards the distant cliffs, or even the valleys of the dunes, but towards the peak where lightning had just struck!

Sephiroth reacted before he could think. He grabbed Zack’s collar and pulled before he could go anywhere. 

“Gerk!” Zack stumbled back into Sephiroth. 

“What are you doing?!” Sephiroth barked, mostly to himself. What was _he_ doing? If Zack was as much a betrayer as Sephiroth though, he should be free to run to his death. If he wasn’t even a prince of Gongaga then there was no harm in it. 

Still Sephiroth didn’t let him go. 

“Lightning never strikes the same place twice!” Zack shouted back. Thunder rumbled, echoed in Sephiroth’s ribs. He tried to blink away the rain. 

“Are you that much of an idiot?” Sephiroth said instead of everything he should have (like “go ahead and meet your fate” or “please, show me”). Then he followed it up with, “We need to get to low ground.”

Why did he say ‘we’? Why couldn’t he just let Zack run off and get killed this time? It wasn’t like a traitor needed a keeper.

“What - I… yeah. Low ground! Where’s that?” 

Lightning flashed and the landscape was seared into Sephiroth’s retinas. 

“This way.” Sephiroth released Zack’s collar, but didn’t want to let him free entirely. He moved his hand to grip Zack’s bicep and set off towards the edge of the dune. 

Zack stumbled until their pace matched. Flashes of light marked their journey as they reached the edge and then stumbled downwards. 

Sephiroth tripped. Zack pulled him back up before he could roll down. Was that an act of kindness? Or handicapping Sephiroth’s own escape?

There wasn’t time to give thanks - as insane as even thanking a traitor sounded. Every breath felt like a countdown to a strike they couldn’t avoid. 

There was no light when they reached the bottom of the valley. They stumbled as the slope evened out. Sephiorth wasn’t sure who brought who down, but Sephiroth rolled onto the ground and Zack fell atop him. An elbow hit Sephiroth’s rib. 

Sephiroth prepared to shove Zack off and his mouth was opened in complaint, when thunder clapped and light seared their vision.

The place they had been standing moments before was as radiant as the day. One, two, three lightning strikes. Sephiroth couldn’t feel the rain all he knew was the numbness in his spine. 

Zack moved to get up. Chill seeped into the space between their bodies as Zack moved to his elbows. Sephiroth pulled him back down. Clearly he was infected with madness, but he couldn’t let go. 

“We need to stay low.” Adrenaline pounded in his stomach, willing him to survive even though there wasn’t much we could do. “Move into a crouch but no higher.” 

Zack turned his head. His eyes were wide and frightened, but he still smiled and said, “You sure know a lot about everything.” 

“Only when it comes to Kujata,” Sephiroth huffed - but was harder to do with all of Zack’s weight atop him. 

On all sides they were surrounded by dunes, their peaks illuminated by the lightning. Those should be protection enough, but being in a valley posed its own problem: the heavy rains would wash them out and there was nowhere they could go. Even now Sephiroth could feel a puddle at his back.

“... hey… what’s that sound?” Zack tilted his head. 

“What sound?” Sephiroth couldn’t hear over the thunder, but - wait - there it was. It was something like a crack, like rock crumbling. It was coming - from beneath them?!

“Roll!” Sephiroth’s command was too late. The ground crumbled and they were falling. The cave was less forgiving than the sand and Sephiroth hissed as he braced himself on an elbow - and Zack fell atop him. Sand spilled down on them like an hourglass. Clumps of sand fell in with the rain. They would be trapped if they didn’t move quickly. 

Sephiroth rolled away from the crack, taking Zack with him. 

“Wow, another… cave?” Zack was looking around. 

Said cave was dim. Light flashed from several tiny holes, but it was barely enough to see by. Sephiroth moved to stand and winced at the strain in his elbow. He would deal with that later. 

“Yes.” Sephiroth sat up and scanned the cave. From what he could tell there was enough room to stand up in, but it was too narrow to do much else. “Come on, we have to move.” 

“I… why are you helping me?” Zack stared up at Sephiroth. Light flashed and made the worry clear on his features. “I thought you said I was a traitor and I was going to die?” 

Sephiroth didn’t have an answer for that, at least not one he wanted to admit. The thought of Zack perishing in the desert it was… “If you don’t move you’ll get swallowed by the sands and the rains.” 

Wind was blowing into the cave from somewhere. Sephiroth turned until the wind touched his face. If they were lucky, the cave would open up enough to allow them a place to sleep. 

Sephiroth set off into the wind. Zack was following, judging by the echo of his boots. The sound of waved joined the thunder. Sephiroth counted the paces until the walls fell away. He thought it would be farther, but it was only twenty? 

Lightning danced on the horizon. The sea stretched out beyond them and the cliffs above them. 

"Hey…" Zack's voice was accompanied by a hand on Sephiroth’s shoulder. Warmth seeped into Sephiroth’s skin. "I think we should stop."

"You think we should stop?" Sephiroth turned to look at Zack. The intermittent light showed a Zack who looked as exhausted as Sephiroth felt. 

Sephiroth wanted to stand here until the sky decided he should be struck by lightning. Logic told him this was the whims of exhaustion and he shouldn't give in. But he continued standing there nonetheless. 

"Yeah it's - it's too dark to see the footholds properly. Worse, it's easy to slip in this kind of rain. And - and don't look at me like that." Zack's voice was soft, barely audible above the crashing waves. "You're shivering."

"You're shivering, too." Sephiroth also noted that Zack was covered in wet clumps of sand. 

"It gets cold at night in the desert, right?" Zack was slowly leading Sephiroth deeper into the cave. 

"Yes, it does." Sephiroth looked around feeling dazed. Thunder rumbled and the wind cut to his skin. "We'll need someplace to block the worst of the wind…"

"Got it." Zack proceeded to lead Sephiroth into the darkness, one hand on his shoulder. The wind turned into a faint whistle. "Seems good enough, right? What's next, how we gonna survive this cold?"

Sephiroth tried to shake away the fog in his head. "Strip. Wet clothes sap body heat."

"Okey dokey," Zack's hand fell away and Sephiroth noticed just how cold he was. "You take care of yourself, ’kay?"

Sephiroth worked out of his clothes. His elbow complained all the while. He felt colder now that he was naked. It was just a trick of the mind. 

"Alright, pop a squat mister," Zack made the suggestion with a hand on his shoulder. "I got us a luxurious dinner."

"Dinner?" Sephiroth blinked as he settled on the cold stone. It wasn't wet so that was an improvement as far as he was concerned. 

"Yeah. Jerky!" Zack declared by putting one in Sephiroth’s hands. "I got in the habit of packing some after uh, well this one time I got super lost. They don't taste the best and the rain did a number on them but - they'll get us through the night. Oh! And the water skins!" Cold leather touched Sephiroth's thigh. 

"... Zack…"

"Talk after we eat." Zack said around a mouth full of jerky. 

Sephiroth followed suit and ate, and drank. Slowly but surely the cobwebs in his head started to clear. The past hour felt like some sort of nightmare. it felt real enough but seemed nonsensical now that he thought about it. 

"Zack, I… I'm sorry for the way I acted." Sephiroth didn't think words were enough. "I was illogical and - and frustrated and I took it out on you."

"No, it's okay. Stuff happens when you're hangry." Zack sounded so relieved. "Plus there's a whole bunch of dramatic stuff happening for your right now. You apologized so I'm good." Zack sighed. Hd was a beacon of warmth in the chill of the cave; Sephiroth found himself inching closer. "I'm just glad you didn't hit your head in that fall. I was getting worried."

"Nn. Just my elbow." Sephiroth felt the tingle of exhaustion and knew he was being childish, but he pressed against Zack's side anyway. If he was pushed away, he would allow it. 

"That's not good." Zack reached an arm around Sephiroth’s shoulders. Tension melted out of him and he leaned into Zack further. 

"Mm. It's just a sprain." Sephiroth felt his elbow for confirmation. While it ached, it was still usable. How much would it slow him down? "We still need to get to the castle…"

"Tomorrow." Zack's declaration was made from his core and Sephiroth bounced with it. "We can't go anywhere with this storm. So we might as well rest up."

Zack put a hand on Sephiroth’s head and gently pushed. Sephiroth allowed it and his head met Zack's shoulder. 

"Hnn." This position shouldn't have been as comfortable as it was. 

"You know," Zack said quietly. "I'm not a very good prince."

"You seem competent enough to me." Certainly Zack was a better prince than Sephiroth. It was a pretty low bar: anyone was better than him. 

"Well, that’s because you haven't seen me in Gongaga," Zack laughed softly. "A prince doesn't have much responsibility when he's out adventuring."

"Why did you leave Gongaga?" Sephiroth asked. Sleep was warm behind his eyes and he let them slip shut. Sephiroth couldn't imagine leaving Kujata. Even if he had more siblings, he was still the strongest warrior they had. Until their military was stronger there was no way he could even think about leaving them. 

But he did wonder, just a little, what it would be like somewhere as hot and humid as Gongaga. 

"I wanted to make my own future. I didn't want to be beholden to what everyone thought of my blood." Zack sighed. His head came to rest on top of Sephiroth’s. "I want to be someone who can stand on their own two feet no matter what the ground is like."

"That's admirable," Sephiroth said. "Not a common goal for the prince."

"Well I'm not a common prince." Zack chuckled softly. Sephiroth liked the way it made his head move. "And you're not one either."

"What makes you say that?" Sephiroth didn't think himself particularly special other than his inability to be a prince worthy of Kujata. 

"Well," Zack shifted and his breath ghosted Sephiroth’s ear. "I don't know many princes who would stand on the front lines like it was nothing."

As his mother had pointed out many times in the past. "You may have a point."

Zack laughed again. Thunder rumbled like an echo.

"So… serious question. Why _are_ there pirates in Kujata?" Sand spilled from somewhere, followed by a splash of water. 

"I’m not sure," Sephiroth sighed. Theories had been swirling in his head since he’d first heard that Katana was in their waters. “Even though we have a port and we’re situated next to the trade routes, we’re not a trading hub. Compared to the trade routes, we don’t have much to offer but fishing boats and the occasional visit from Corneo. There’s yet to be a pirate attack. I don’t think they’re after our goods, but our port.”

“So they’re… invading?” Zack was tapping his fingers on Sephiroth’s knee. Did he realize he was doing it? 

“Pirates don’t invade, they pillage and plunder.” Sephiroth had done research on the subject. No matter how notorious the outfit, pirates were at their strongest at sea. Any attacks carried out on land were swift with the aim of returning to the ships as quickly as possible. 

“So they want to use your secret port,” Zack huffed. “But why take over the castle?” 

“I don’t know.” Sephiroth was missing something. Even if the pirates did take over the castle, it wasn’t like foriegn navies would allow it for long. What was their plan?

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow, huh?” Zack squeezed Sephiroth’s shoulders. 

“We will.” Thoughts spilled out of Sephiroth’s head like a tipped pot until it was empty. He fell asleep listening to the sound of Zack’s heart and the rumble of the storm.

[...]

Waking up had always been easy for Sephiroth. It didn’t matter when or where he was: on a scouting ship, hunting invaders in the desert, or even in the comfort of his own bed. Somehow this morning was different. When he opened his eyes they were still heavy with sleep; Sephiroth was pleasantly warm on one side and pressed further to that warmth. The crash of waves on a distant shore was lulling. 

Sephiroth had never felt so content. It was like the desert sands were wrapped around him and he could fall into eternity right now. 

The warmth on Sephiroth’s side shifted and gone was the fog over his mind. Sephiroth snapped his eyes open. Adrenaline needled through his gut and he turned to assess the unknown situation. Something tickled his cheek as he did so. 

A mass of fluffy black hair greeted Sephiroth. It smelled of rain. That was familiar - it was, it was Zack wasn’t it? Sephiroth tilted his head a little more. Zack’s own head was resting heavily on Sephiroth’s shoulder.

The light of dawn spilled into the cave from the hole they’d tumbled into last night. It refracted from the pile of sand and lingering puddles from last night’s rain. It was a murky, dusty light that had the feeling of a half-dream. Zack looked ethereal in it, like he had been shaped from the very stone of the cave. For once, he was still and his expression in sleep was stoic, unlike the constant smiles, frowns, and confused eyebrow quirks he wore when awake. His skin was warm to the touch and dotted with scars, his stomach rippled with muscles. And below that… Sephiroth snapped his gaze back to Zack’s face. 

It had just been a cursory inspection. It was only natural to examine the health of your compatriots, especially after such a harrowing night. Sephiroth had just - he was just looking for injuries. Sephiroth’s own elbow pulsed with pain but he ignored it. 

Sephiroth swallowed. His throat was dry but he didn’t want to waste water. He swallowed again. The longer he looked at Zack’s face the more he felt his throat withering. 

What was he doing? They had to get moving while it was still cool. There wasn’t time to waste like this!

“Huh? What?” Zack was shaken awake easily enough. “Whazzit?” But the alert part was still debatable. 

“Get dressed and have some water.” Sephiroth stood. Zack lost his balance and slid to the floor in a daze. “We have to get moving.” 

“Okaaay.” Zack yawned as he moved sluggishly. It was funny to see someone so full of energy look so aimless. Sephiroth pulled his eyes away, allowing the slow morning, and inspected the cave.

There wasn’t much threat of being buried in the sands; it had been hard to tell in the darkness but there were several holes leading to the desert and only a few spaces where sand piled high enough to reach the ceiling. There were two exits: back into the desert or out to the cliffs. Where the cliffs led was unknown: closer to the city or further. As much as Sephiroth knew they were unprepared for it,the desert was the only viable option. They weren’t far from the castle and should stumble on a well before the sun was sweltering. 

Turning back, Sephiroth found Zack dressed and still blinking himself awake.

“We’ll exit from here and proceed to the castle.” Sephiroth pointed at the hole. It was larger than all the others. Judging by the size and smears of sand on the ground, it was likely the one they had fallen through last night. 

“Mmhmm.” Zack inspected the hole, shrugged, and started climbing out. Apparently mornings were well and truly Zack’s only weakness. Sephiroth worked his jaw to get the smile off his face. 

Nothing cracked in the ceiling once Zack was safely on the surface. Sephiroth followed. 

“Wow! A brand new day!” Zack stretched in the dawn. Sleep was gone from his voice and it was already bubbling with energy. Perhaps the sun had invigorated him. As if hearing these thoughts, Zack threw an arm to the horizon: “Just look at that sunrise!”

The sun was already blinding on the sands, glaring from whites to yellows. It was peeking out from behind the dunes and promised the day would be scorching. Hints of stars dotted the western horizon fading out as the sun brightened the sky. The storm from last night was wiped clean from the sky and soon all traces would be gone from the sands. 

Zack, apparently satisfied with his morning view, took his shirt off and stretched it in the sand. Sephiroth wanted to point out that it was dangerous. Their greatest threat right now was the sun. Accustomed to the weather Zack seemed to be, but Sephiroth worried that he might collapse from the heat before they even arrived. 

Sephiroth started up the dune, “We don’t have much time before the temperature rises.” With the sun as his guide he knew the castle was to the south, and he wanted to plan a course with the fewest valley traversals possible. 

“Oh! Right!” Zack snapped up his shirt scattering sand and ran up after Sephiroth. “Oh! Wait a second! Isn’t this where lightning struck? Man, I can’t believe it doesn’t even look like anything happened. It's exactly like being on the ocean after a big storm - just so calm it's weird. Do you think there’s anything here?”

Zack poked around the ground, completely revitalized. Sephiroth had no idea how Zack could have so much energy with inadequate sleep, little food, and less water. Energetic must have been Zack’s default setting. Except in the mornings. Sephiroth had rather liked sleepy, slow Zack...

Sephiroth cleared his throat. “If there are any traces, the winds probably buried them.”

“Oh! Man I should dig and see if I can find anything!” Zack followed that announcement by squatting into the sand and digging. Every child of the dunes had dug in the sand, watching the winds fill in the holes and laughing at the futility of it. Zack, however, missed the point of that exercise. 

Sephiroth shook his head and let him be. Zack was still a foreigner and foreigners did odd things from time to time, like trying to dig up traces of a storm in the desert. It seemed like a waste of energy to Sephiroth when they had a desert to traverse and a kingdom to save. 

That is, _if_ the kingdom even needed saving. Was it likely that the pirates could have done anything? Certainly the bulk of their army was away at the borders but that didn’t mean the royal guard was absent. How could mere pirates defeat them?

But - what if they had? The element of surprise could make an impossible fight possible. Was there anything Sephiroth could do against them? Was there any way to protect his people? 

“Oh! There’s something here!” Zack dug around a little more and pulled something out. "Wow…" Sephiroth left his dark thoughts where they were and leaned over Zack's shoulder to examine the thing. 

Beautiful was the only way to describe it. An erratic pattern of tubes at jarring angles made a delicate, impossible shape: it was like lightning crystallized.

“It’s - it's glass!” Zack lifted it higher so it could catch the sunlight. The shape twinkled beneath his hands. “It’s glass lightning! Sephiroth look!” 

“I’m looking.” Sephiroth leaned closer to the object. It was possible to look through it and the dunes indeed refracted as if it were glass. Not to say they weren't imperfections: scorch marks blackening one side and part of it breaking. Honestly, the more Sephiroth looked the more he thought lightning had simply shed its skin in the sand. 

“This - this is amazing. I never knew lightning could make glass! I’ve never seen glass like this! I've never even heard of it!” Zack's enthusiasm was tinged with awe. 

In the short time they'd known each other, Zack had shown him a myriad of impossible sights. Sephiroth couldn't help but look away from the glass and at Zack. Light was refracting onto his face like stars on his skin that winked in his dimples

“I bet - I bet I bet I bet!" Zack turned the full force of his smile on Sephiroth, who had to make a conscious decision to breathe. "We could harness the power of lightning to make glass here. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could use lightning to make anything we wanted? Or even better see what lightning would make if we gave it free reign? This is all so neat!!” 

"If you could harness the power of lightning," Sephiroth found himself saying before he even thought about it, "we could export the glass as nature's works of art."

“Oooo! There’s an idea!” Zack looked at the lightning glass again. Sephiroth sighed in relief as strength returned to his knees. “We should talk to Corn about it. He’s a merchant I’m sure he’d have a million business plans ready the second we tell him.” 

"His name is Corneo." Sephiroth corrected absently. "He's… likely still in the castle."

Sephiroth hadn't even spared him a thought. In a pirate raid who were the targets? The wealthy and the noble (and anyone who was convenient). If the castle was under pirate control, Corneo would of course be a victim in this. Would he be valuable enough for the pirates to spare? Sephiroth didn’t know. 

“Oh, hm, that’s a problem. There’s supposed to be pirates in the castle, aren't there?” Zack looked to the distance. The sun was already hiding the castle in a twist of mirages so there was nothing to see but desert and heat. 

“Yes… it begs the question of how to enter.” Sephiroth had never engaged in a siege himself. He’d never had to go against a force that entrenched themselves with anything sturdier than a sand dune or some high ground. It wasn’t as if Sephiroth and Zack were powerful enough to overwhelm the enemy regardless. 

“Could we climb the walls?” Zack had demonstrated how easy it was. 

“No. The guards would spot us. We could hide in the daily deliveries. No, it’s already too late for that. And if pirates did descend things wouldn’t be business as usual…” Sephiroth stared at the sand and hoped it would give him insight.

“Ah!” Zack jerked and Sephiroth looked over at him. “Oh no! It broke!” There was, indeed, a large crack in the side of it. “This is more delicate than it looks…”

Considering it looking incredibly delicate, that was a statement.

“You should put it somewhere the sands won’t bury it.” Sephiroth wanted to find the glass again and look at it without the worry that his kingdom had fallen to ruin. 

“Uh?” Zack looked at Sephiroth, and then all around. For some inexplicable reason, he put it carefully back into the hole he’d made. “Like this?” 

Yes. That’s right. Zack was a foreigner and foreigners didn’t understand sand. 

“The cave should be safe enough.” Sephiroth looked to the west and estimated the distance to the ocean cliffs. Once they finished up their business they could find this easily enough - as long as they were quick about it. 

“Oh. _Smart_.” Zack picked himself off and carefully walked down the dune. 

Once Zack disappeared in the hole Sephiroth felt his shoulders sag. It was just a moment of weakness, just a brief snippet of letting the burden weigh on him, he was going to recover. But apparently it was long enough for Zack to scramble out of the hole and look at him curiously. 

“Hey? You alright? You’re looking pretty bad.” 

“I’m just trying to figure out how to get into the castle.” Sephiroth rubbed at his head. “We don’t have a plan but we can’t stay here.” 

“Hmm... “ Zack looked from Sephiroth to the distant mirage of the castle and back. “I think I have an idea. Do you trust me?” 

Sephiroth looked at Zack’s outstretched hand. Without even thinking about it, he said, “I do.” 

Zack’s grip was warm in Sephiroth’s. 

“Alright! Let’s go get your castle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lightning-made glass is called fulgurite. And it’s super weird looking! In theory you only need lightning hot enough and sand with enough quartz to create fulgurite. Also fun fact: the properties of sand that make it suitable for making clay make it unsuitable for becoming fulgurite!


	5. Prince of Kujata

This was a terrible idea. It was borderline insane. Why had Sephiroth agreed to it without even hearing it? Surely it wasn’t because there hadn’t been any better ideas. There  _ must _ have been better ideas than this.

Sephiroth's elbow twinged with every step. The ropes around his wrists were loose; Zack had assured him that anyone looking would think they were tightly bound. But this was a gaggle of pirates: no doubt they were familiar with every type of knot. There was no way this would stand under scrutiny. 

But no one had even asked! Did they even look? 

Zack had just told the pirates - not the castle guards, the  _ pirates _ \- at the gate that he’d captured the prince and wanted to see their captain. No fuss, no questions, just laughter and an escort. Sephiroth had kept a careful tally of the destruction he saw: ripped tapestries, broken vases, torn portraits. There were no bodies. 

And now they were here, at the audience chamber. The doors were wide open as they never should be. It was so different with the walls bare and the carpets thrown aside. The coarse laughter of men echoed, so unlike the hush that surrounded audiences with the queen.

Sephiroth scanned the room for his mother. Pirate, pirate, pirate -  _ there _ she was. Lucrecia was flanked by a gaggle of politicians. Her dress was torn the way it always did when she picked up the sword but she didn’t look injured. The crown was missing from her head. But she was whole, furious, and breathing. That was all that mattered. 

Zack gasped, “Corn?!” 

Sephiroth feared the worst for the longtime friend of Kujata. Except when he turned his head, what he found was a familiar merchant lounging on the throne. The crown of Kujata was askew on his head and a glass of wine was in his hand. 

“Corneo…” Sephiroth couldn’t form words anymore. There was Corneo, sitting on Kujata’s throne, wearing the crown, as if this kingdom was his. There wasn’t even a tear on his silk robe!

“Well, well, well,” Merchant Corneo raised his glass at them. “If it isn’t the crown prince himself.”

“What are you… what are you doing on the throne?” Sephiroth had drunk his fill from a well but hours ago: perhaps it was infected with some mysterious disease and he was currently hallucinating. 

“Why am I sitting on the throne?” Corneo gestured to himself, and then the audience chamber; wine sloshed out of his cup. “Because I’ve taken over this backwater country.”

“What?” Sephiroth’s breath hitched. Adrenaline pumped through him telling him to do something, anything with this new information. But what? 

“It’s funny, too.” Corneo took a swig of his wine. “I was so worried you were going to find me out. You always asked the right questions, never drank any of my laced wine, always criticized my retainers when they wandered too far, and stumbled on practically every bribe I made. It’s hilarious, isn’t it! The only reason I got this far was because of your dear sweet mother sending you out whenever I came to visit.” 

It made sense. Sephiroth latched onto that thought: this was the missing piece. The pirate invasion hadn’t made sense because they had nothing to gain. But Corneo? Sephiroth’s stomach rolled. He’d suspected Zack before Corneo. Why? All the evidence was there so why...

“Do you know, little demon prince, what your problem is?” When Corneo called him that the shock melted away to rage. 

“You, apparently,” Sephiroth growled. Zack tugged at Sephiroth’s arm, silently begging him to sit still.

“No, no, no. Your problem is trust.” Corneo laughed and pointed a meaty finger at them. “Once someone breaches your inner circle, you never doubt them. That's why Lucrecia never let you deal with me. Isn’t that right?”

What? Sephiroth blinked at the revelation.  _ That _ was his weakness? His greatest failing as a prince? The reason why he wasn’t given any true power? 

“Mother?” Sephiroth was too blown away by this to focus on his anger. Lucrecia met his gaze with resignation. It - it was  _ true _ . 

“That is correct, merchant.” Lucrecia’s voice was as chill as the rains. “My son, you never thought of this man as anything more than salvation. You failed to understand his motives and what he stood to gain from helping our people. He did not help us out of the goodness of his own heart.”

“Oh, you wound me, Lu.”

“Address her as Queen Lucrecia.” Sephiroth snapped. Oh how he would like to snap this traitor’s neck.

“Yeah. Because she’s still queen,” Corneo guffawed and drank his wine. “Listen, all I wanted was a sweet operation to smuggle my goods. If it’s a legitimate kingdom? All the better!” 

“You - you  _ traitor _ .” Sephiroth had thought he was angry yesterday, when exhaustion had made him turn on Zack. But this? This was different. There was a fire in him - it muddled his thoughts and made his hands ache for a blade.

“Oh yes. I’m the traitor.” Corneo jutted out his chin, “What about that little Zack who went and caught you, hm? Really, I didn’t know he had it in him.”

“I… uh… brought Sephiroth to n-negotiate…” Zack’s voice had never been so awkward and halting. If Sephiroth weren’t in the middle of trying to wrench free of his hold he would be concerned. He was far too busy being frustrated at Zack’s dedication to following a script.

“Uh huh. Let me guess.” Corneo snapped his fingers. “You want to get out of this country.”

“H-how did you know?!” Zack made an aborted noise in the back of his throat when he’d gone off script, too. 

“Alright kid, let me stop you right there.” Corneo adjusted the crown. “As King of Kujata,” Sephiroth tried to lunge for him, but Corneo ignored it, “I need to refurbish my investment costs. And you, my boy, are going to be my first return. I’m sure your parents would pay handsomely for you. And if not? Well, the Midgar Empire always needs more soldiers. I’d give ‘em a two for one deal.” 

His smile sent spiders up Sephiroth’s back. This man would betray even Zack?

A pointed cough drew Sephiroth’s rage away from Corneo and to the notorious pirate standing next to it. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that, sir.”

Corneo quirked a brow. “Eh? That sounds like something someone who doesn’t want pay would say.”

“I owe a life debt to my cousin over there,” Captain Balto pointed at them. No, he pointed - he pointed at  _ Zack _ . 

Zack, for his part, gasped. “Wait.  _ Balto _ . You’re Balto Balto?! Wait! BALTO?” Zack’s voice reached an ear-ringing volume every time he said the name ‘Balto.’ 

“... Zack, is your cousin Balto also the cousin who's a sailor?” Sephiroth had assumed they were different cousins and been too busy with other things to ask for clarification. 

"Can't be a pirate without being a sailor," Balto shrugged; he looked just like Zack when he did that. Actually, now that Sephiroth was looking they looked quite similar. “And now, I’m afraid I gotta do what I owe.”

"What the hell are you talking about? I hired you to do this job and you're not getting paid until it's done." Corneo's face was turning as red as his robe. 

“Alright, crew, I have to tell you something tragic.” Balto took off his hat and pressed it to his chest. “We just lost our boss. He fell headfirst into the brig. An awful fate. He might need someone to ransom him free.”

“What’s the meaning of this? Balto?!” Spittle was flying out of Corneo’s mouth.

The notorious pirate captain, and apparently Zack’s cousin, returned his hat to his head and casually knocked Corneo out. It was just a flick of the wrist and Corneo was out cold. 

The crown slipped off Corneo’s head and rolled onto the floor. It came to a stop at Zack’s feet. 

“Now, you two,” Balto pointed at them, peering over his glasses. “Stop pretending to be captured. Your acting’s pretty pathetic. If this guy hadn’t been drunk we’d’ve had to have done this differently.” 

“Wow! Balto! You’re the best! Just like I remember!” Zack let go of Sephiroth. The ropes slid off as if Zack’s hand was the only thing keeping them attached. 

Sephiroth bent down to pick up the crown, trying to follow what was happening. 

“Wait…” Sephiroth realized. “Were you planning this the whole time?”

“Only when I saw Zack in the cave.” Balto shrugged and smiled. 

“I see.” Sephiroth remembered being beyond livid when Zcak had saved Balto’s life from the boulder. And he also remembered thinking about how many ways he could take Balto down from that small cliff face. It was a little shameful to know that he’d been saved by a man he’d wanted to kill. “Thank you.” 

“Didn’t do it for you.” Balto picked up Corneo’s body with one arm. “I’ll be taking this merchant and his boat. Good luck, Zack.” 

“Oh! Thanks! Good luck with your… uh… pirating? Wait. Maybe not good luck.”

Sephiroth let Zack fumble over his words as he walked over to his mother. He kneeled and presented her the crown. “Mother, I return to you your crown.” 

Lucrecia lifted it from his hand and placed it upon her head. “Thank you, my son.” She looked like herself again, a controlled anger and calm. “In recognition of your deeds, I permit you in the audience chamber for all international trade deals. And, as befitting of your rank, I shall give you the power to appoint court positions.”

Sephiroth lifted his head to stare at her. His greatest weakness, the flaw he hadn’t noticed, would be made apparent in every appointment. This was an opportunity. Sephiroth wouldn’t waste it. 

“Thank you, Mother.” Sephiroth rose to his feet to stand beside her. “I would like to use my newfound power to appoint Zack as the Royal Blower and Court Artist.”

“W-wow!” Zack’s mouth dropped open. “Court artisan! I mean - I didn’t think you. I mean I sort of did. But wow. That’s - uh, can I think about it? Maybe when you’re mom’s not like right there?” 

Sephiroth wondered where he had misspoke. “I’m making you the royal  _ glassblower _ , Zack.” 

“Oooh that makes sense - wait.” Zack froze mid-nod and whirled on Sephiroth. “Did you just say what I think you said?! Am I a glassblower now? Officially and everything?”

“Yes you are-rk.” Sephiroth barely caught Zack when they slammed together, Zack laughing in his ear. 

“I’m going to make you so much glass! And I’m going to use lightning and make more lightning glass! And - and find out the secret of your beach glass and just - just you wait! You won’t regret this!” Zack laughed. 

Sephiroth cleared his throat. “Perhaps we could talk about your misunderstanding about the position a little more privately…” 

This close, Sephiroth could see the flush on Zack’s ears (it was subtle but there). “Oh wow, yeah, definitely Later, right? Just, uh, let me know when so I can be emotionally prepared.”

Sephiroth savored the warmth between them. The future was as bright as the desert sands. “I’m looking forward to it.”


End file.
